Savory Vegan Baking Recipes

I've gotten into the habit of using various Vegan Butters in my baking projects. I like having the peace of mind in knowing I have complete control over what goes into it. These butters were designed to mimic real butter. But lately I’ve been noticing something. The same hard consistency that allows the butter to work well with creaming into cookie batter, cutting into pie crust dough and rolling with croissant dough can also be its downfall.

This firmness inhibits the butter from being enjoyed on a completely different level: being spread onto toasty pieces of hearth breads, smeared on steamy biscuits and dabbed on pancakes fresh off the griddle. In these cases, butters that are optimal for baking tend to sit on the food, desperately depending on the residual heat to allow them to melt so they hopefully spread out as they ooze along. Then while you’re eating, hopefully you’ll eventually get to the part with the melted butter on it. What a treat that’s going to be! It shouldn’t have to be this way.

Several years ago, one of my favorite restaurants, Millennium, in San Francisco had a particular bread spread they would serve with fresh bread, just as you were seated. This particular spread wasn't buttery, but it had a particular creamy buttery oomph that actually made it taste better than butter when it was slathered on your crusty slice. And since it obviously wasn't butter, you could spread on even more without getting funny looks from your Mom across the table. You could run out of it and confidently ask for more, again and again! Then one day they switched over to a fava bean-based spread that was sadly sub par and the bread spread I loved oh so much mysteriously disappeared from existence. This savory bread spread made a lasting impression on me and I knew that one day I would rise to the challenge and create my own rich version.

Three Herbed Vegan Butter is the ultimate Vegan Butter because three fresh herbs are infused into it, resulting in multiple layers of buttery goodness. Feel free to mix up the herbs to add your own special flavor profile. Slather this butter on crusty artisanal breads for an amazing flavor combination. You can also use Three Herbed Vegan Butter to make buttermilk biscuits or a savory pie crust. This is currently my best attempt at making a vegan butter that rivals real butter.

Vegan Butter is designed to mimic real butter in vegan baking applications. Like real butter, Vegan Butter is more solid than tub margarine and not as spreadable. This is so it can perform optimally in vegan baking applications. If your goal is to have a conveniently softer, spreadable Vegan Butter, swap out 1 Tablespoon of the coconut oil with 1 additional Tablespoon olive oil.

Kimchi adds a layer of spicy tang to vegan butter due to its fermented goodness. You can use mild or spicy kimchi depending on how much spice you'd like to have come through. I recommend medium to spicy kimchi for a complex Vegan Butter that's great on toast or other savory items. You could even make a mushroom Vegan Turnover using this as your butter block!

Vegan Butter is designed to mimic real butter in vegan baking applications. Like real butter, Vegan Butter is more solid than tub margarine and not as spreadable. This is so it can perform optimally in vegan baking applications. If your goal is to have a conveniently softer, spreadable Vegan Butter, swap out 1 Tablespoon of the coconut oil with 1 additional Tablespoon canola, light olive oil or rice bran oil.

Several years ago I ate at a world famous garlic themed restaurant in San Francisco and discovered to my excitement that caramelized garlic can be delectable spread on bread the same way as butter. I couldn’t believe how the garlic transformed from a spicy, harshness to a smooth, subtle butteriness with just the application of heat. In later years I became more familiar with this magical trait of garlic and decided to pair it with the creaminess of vegan butter here. Enjoy this Garlic Vegan Butter spread on your toast, baked into your hearth breads or use it as a base for something like puff pastry garlic knots. Either way, it’ll be able to stand up to the complexity of traditional butter.

Vegan Butter is designed to mimic real butter in vegan baking applications. Like real butter, Vegan Butter is more solid than tub margarine and not as spreadable. This is so it can perform optimally in vegan baking applications. If your goal is to have a conveniently softer, spreadable Vegan Butter, swap out 1 Tablespoon of the coconut oil with 1 additional Tablespoon olive oil.

Holiday dinners at my Godparent's house was always a special occasion. The food was inspirational but the the one dish that my brother and I looked forward to all year was the simple but perfect implementation of garlic bread. This consisted of a store-bought flute of San Francisco sourdough, sliced but leaving the bottom crust intact so the slices could be torn off as the loaf worked its way around the table. This loaf was buttered between the slices, wrapped in tin foil and warmed in the oven. Buttering the slices while leaving the loaf intact had the advantage of ensuring both sides of each slice was buttered. Wrapping the loaf in tin foil had the benefit of allowing the entire loaf to be saturated with buttery aromas and flavors during its time in the oven and the tin foil could be folded back over the loaf in between servings to keep the bread warm while it was on the table. Brilliant!

Traditional flour is ground endosperm powder which is the result of the flour mill removing most of the hard pieces and hence, nutrition from the wheat berry. I'm a huge fan of whole sprouted grains because they're more flavorful and contain significantly more nutrients than bread made with traditional flour. This Flourless Sprouted Whole Wheat Bread recipe utilizes sprouted wheat berries that are then ground into a purée. This requires a substantially hardy food processor. If you're not sure if your food processor is powerful enough, look on the bottom. It should say at least 6.5 Amps or "6.5 A".

This bread was difficult to design due to the nature of the wheat berry. This hardy seed contains the germ which is the heart and soul of the seed. The germ is the embryo of the plant in its dormant state. It's accompanied by the starchy endosperm which acts as fuel for the germ when it sprouts or germinates. This package is encased in a firm fibrous shell called the bran. This protects the seed kind of like an egg shell protects an egg.

Every year for the last several years I’ve been experimenting with the seeds that come with my fall pumpkins. I enjoy roasting them and candying them but I’ve always grappled with their often tough mouthfeel. I always seem to be gnawing on them for eternity as the texture slowly starts to remind me of sawdust. Every year I’ve tackled this problem differently; usually simmering them in water for a certain amount of time to soften them before roasting. This tactic has only yielded me marginally more tender pumpkin seeds. I needed to take this further.

A few months ago I picked up my first slow cooker. After some initial testing I found that slow cooking the pumpkin seeds in water on high (about 210F (99C) for 10 hours allowed me to roast them to perfection. Using this method, your pumpkin seeds will be crispy on the outside and give way to a subtle chew on the inside as they release their flavors. Oh yeah, the flavor. Now that found the optimum texture, I opted for a savory punch thanks to the shiro miso, paprika and a dash of sugar and cayenne for depth of flavor. Now I can finally really enjoy pumpkin seeds as an easy going snack.

I’m a huge fan of kimchi because it adds a fascinating crunch and a savory spicy flavor to whatever you pair it with. It seems as if kimchi is one of those foods that becomes more than the sum of its parts after it ferments to perfection. Napa cabbage provides the crunch but also is rich in glutamates, the compounds that are responsible for savory favors, otherwise known as umami. There had to be a reason why napa cabbage is always part of kimchi!

Recently I incorporated kimchi into vegan butter for an increased depth of flavor. The kimchi flavor was less apparent but the butter had a complex flavor unlike anything I’ve tasted. What if I made a puff pastry out of Kimchi Vegan Butter that was designed to deliver a one-two punch of flaky butteriness and savory flavors that even the most die hard meat eaters would love? The result is Kimchi Puff Pastry with Shiitake Mushrooms and Toasted Pine Nuts. This recipe may look a little daunting but it’s easy if you split it into several nights and refrigerate it as you go. I usually make the Kimchi Vegan Butter and mushrooms one night, prepare the puff pastry and give it a turn or two on the second night and prepare and bake them on the third night.

A recipe from my book Triumph of the Lentil, this is my staple bread recipe. Even with a newborn and a toddler to look after I manage to bake this twice a week, so that we never have to buy bread. Because of the slow rising time it requires very minimal kneading (only enough to mix in the flour), doesn’t require any oil or sugar to taste good and stays fresh for longer. The slow rise develops the gluten in the same way that kneading would, but results in a superior taste.

Each rise can take between eight and twenty hours and put in the fridge at any stage, to be baked within two weeks. I like to make each rise around twelve hours. It can also be sped up a little, to make the total time as little as 16 hours by doubling the amount of yeast and combining the first and second rise together.

After falling in love with rye breads I became fascinated with developing a bread containing 100 percent rye. I knew that taking all of the wheat flour out of a bread recipe would wreak havoc on the end result and a high-rising crusty bread would not be obtainable. This is because wheat flour is unique in that it contains two proteins in the wheat endosperm called glutenin and gliadin. When these proteins hydrate and undergo friction, they unravel like balls of yarn, bind together into sticky strands and form a structure building network. This elastic web of protein holds in air bubbles during leavening and acts as a structure builder after the bread cools, resulting in a high-rising, fluffy, springy loaf.

A tough of sugar takes the edge off the bitterness of the rye in this Easy Vegan Rye Bread recipe. Molasses has been added to increase the overall richness of the rye flavor and caraway seeds adds an interesting layer subtle spicy cool to the loaf. Feel free to experiment with these additions and change them if you prefer. The loaf will still turn out roughly the same.

Initially I was intrigued by the flavor of rye breads but intimidated by baking them. How was I supposed to bake flavorful, crusty loafs with most of the leavening-enhancing gluten out of the picture? A little research found that although rye flour contains about the same amount of protein than regular flour, most of this protein isn't from glutenin and gliadin, the two protein compounds that unravel and combine to create gluten when water is added and the mixture is kneaded. What rye flour does contain though are natural gums called pentosans which absorb about 16 times their weight in water. This is the puzzle piece of how these breads are crafted.

I haven't yet met anyone who isn't a raging pizza fan. It was one of the hardest foods for me to give up when I lit the vegan torch. Luckily, I've developed this Easy Vegan Pizza Crust recipe that's easy to make and features a rich flavor with a crispy exterior and chewy interior. This has come at a price. The uneven road leading to this crust has made past girlfriends almost dump me over failed pizza prospects. I've lost many highly anticipated meals and wasted lots of time. Yes, the lowly pizza crust depends on some fundamental ingredients and methods that are to be mastered in order to bake itself to crispy perfection.

This Vegan Nine Grain Whole Wheat Bread recipe is unique in that it sports nine grains and contains 100% whole wheat flour for the rest of the ingredients which adds a superb flavor and texture not found in many other breads. Baking a bread with both of these features involves a little more effort but I think you'll agree that it's time well spent. This bread differs from a regular bread recipe in two ways: First, the grains are soaked so they soften and integrate into the loaf. Second, since we're using 100% whole wheat flour for the rest of the flour we need to soak it overnight so the bran softens. This softened bran will enable a more efficient rise because the bran won't cut gluten strands. It will also allow for a more supple crumb. These soaked flour and grains are technically referred to as, what else? A soaker. I suspect the bread baker who coined this term was having a creativity block the day he named this method.

I'm obsessed with vegan baking because unlike traditional cooking, there are nearly no limits or boundaries to creating completely new forms of food. Effectively harnessing your imagination is the only truly required skill. Developing this skill, as well as understanding the fundamentals of baking allows you to create true art forms. Then you get to eat them.

Puff pastry is a truly remarkable building block for vegan baking because of its versatility. It can be the basis of anything from flaky layers enveloping fruit, coiled into rolls such as sticky buns, or twirled into cinnamon and sugar twists.

Referred to in France as pâte feuilletée which means pastry made leaf-like, puff pastry is made of several hundred alternating layers of dough and fat. The water in the dough produces steam during baking that separates and lifts the layers into the puffy goodness that we know and love. This steam-assisted lift is known as chemical leavening. Puff pastry often gets a bad rap due to the many steps of preparation involved. Puff pastry can be a truly time intensive endeavor- if you let it. I recommend splitting the preparation into little pieces and working at it a little bit at a time over a few days. This way you'll only spend a total of about an hour on it. You also have the option of making your puff pastry and storing it in the freezer for a special occasion or for that day when you can no longer resist some sticky caramel cinnamon buns.

The secret to making great focaccia involves using an herbed olive oil to lend an array of herb flavors, allowing the dough to ferment in a refrigerated state for at least 12 hours which allows complex bread flavors to develop and baking a wet dough at a very high temperature which ensures a soft, spongy texture and a crispy crust. Fresh herbs are paramount to infusing the right intensity of flavors in this focaccia recipe. Feel free to use any combination of fresh basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage, savory or marjoram. A long, refrigerated fermentation allows naturally occurring enzymes within the flour to break out more sugars from the starches for the yeast to ferment. These extra sugars allow the yeast to built more flavor, sweeten the focaccia and caramelize under heat which contributes a multitude of enhanced flavors.

This Vegan No Knead Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread is now my go-to vegan bread recipe because it's simple to make and is a great example of how wet doughs can create wonderfully light and spongy breads. The higher water content allows the gliadin and glutenin in the flour to align into tight gluten bonds over time so you can forget about all that kneading drama. The result is a fluffy, chewy loaf that's perfect for sandwiches. Feel free to use this bread as a starting point and substitute a ½ cup of the flour for things like wheat germ, wheat bran or oat bran. It's important to note that due to the wetness of this dough it's only suitable for baking in a loaf pan.

This Vegan Sourdough Pizza Crust recipe has a little more oomph in the form of the flavors produced by wild yeast fermentation, also known as sourdough. The wild yeast isn't enough to leaven the dough completely on it's own so it's spiked with some bread yeast to help it along. This vegan crust is great for cheeseless pizzas or other pizzas where you're not using intensely flavored toppings and you'd like the crust to contribute more flavor to the pie. It's also a great way to use the sourdough starter you've been keeping in your fridge. You do have a resident starter in your fridge right?

This Wild Yeasted Wheat Bread recipe, also known as sourdough bread uses a wild yeast sponge to leaven the dough, creating a multitude of complex flavor compounds in the process. Be sure to read and cultivate your wild yeast starter and sponge before starting this vegan bread. Sandwich breads baked in loaf pans are usually baked at lower temperatures around 350F (177C) to 375F (191C) and 'enriched' with things like sweeteners, oil and extra salt. Artisan breads formed and baked without loaf pans are baked at higher temperatures around 400F (204C) to 475F (246C) where the heat allows extra flavors to be developed. Taking this into account, your bread recipe and baking process will be slightly different depending on which method you choose. This recipe gives you options for both styles.

Crepes unlock huge brunch and dessert option potential depending on wether you make savory or dessert crepes. This Vegan Buckwheat Crepe recipe is pretty foolproof as long as you use the right pan described below. If making savory crepes fill them with things like tofu scramble, seitan and beans or wild rice and mushrooms. If making sweet crepes fill them with bananas, chocolate and coconut; peanut butter, maple syrup and walnuts or caramel, pecans and apples topped with a drizzle of Cashew Cream. Buckwheat lends an earthy, nutty richness to these vegan crepes, which are based on Easy Crepes but factor in buckwheat flour's ability to absorb slightly less liquid than all-purpose flour due to it's smaller amount of gluten.

There's nothing quite like home made bread. This hearty Easy Vegan Wheat Bread recipe is easy to whip up if you have a few hours and it's really simple. In bread baking, longer rise cycles at lower temperatures usually result in more flavor compounds that are generated due to the yeast extracting and break down more starches in the flour and converting them into sugars which will then get caramelized during baking. Some doughs call for an overnight rise in the refrigerator so optimum flavor can be developed. In this vegan loaf you have the option of doing an overnight slow rise in the refrigerator or a regular rise. The two first rise cycle is for the main fermentation of the dough where the yeast eats the most sugars and rises the bread with CO2. The last rise is called proofing in where the dough rises after it's been molded into it's desired shape or placed in it's specific mold.

This Vegan Apple Walnut Stuffing recipe is great inside Stuffed Seitan or alongside some Cranberry Sauce during holiday feasts. Apples give it a light flavor-enhancing sweetness which is a great accompaniment to the textures of water chestnuts and walnuts.

Don't know what to do with all those pumpkin seeds from pumpkin carving? Take those little pepitas and dress them up in little spiced sugar costumes with this Candied Spiced Pumpkin Seeds recipe. They'll love it and you will too because this vegan recipe features barley malt syrup, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom to help push the savory pumpkin seed flavors forward.

This Vegan Cornmeal Spelt Pizza Crust recipe is one of the fastest, easiest crusts around because it doesn't need lots of kneading and it doesn't require yeast. Although it's not gluten-free, it does have very low amounts of gluten which is good if you're trying to cut back on it due to food allergies. This recipe makes a vegan crust that is 12 to 14 inches. This dough can also be refrigerated for later use.

I know that one day I won't have access to my favorite bagel place on Bedford ave in Brooklyn on my way home from the bars to grab a late night snack. This Vegan Everything Bagel recipe will hopefully keep me content in those times. Enjoy these vegan bagels with Tofutti cream cheese, Creamy Vegan Cashew Cream Cheese, my more involved Vegan Cashew Cream Cheese or whatever else floats your fancy. I've designed these bagels in the authentic NY style which uses barley malt, also known as malted barley. Barley malt is highly recommended but if you don't have it just use an additional one-half Tablespoon sugar in its place. Be sure to allow ample time for this recipe- it takes about two hours. If you live further than two hours away from New York City, this recipe will be easier than flying there for the flavor.

This Vegan English Muffin recipe features just a touch of lemon juice and sugar to enhance its yeast-induced flavors. They're awesome fresh out of the toaster with a little Vegan Butter, jam or whatever your preferred muffin topping is. I've been known to use these as burger buns too. They're not loaded with preservatives and dough conditioners like their store-bought cousins but they'll still keep in the freezer stored in a plastic freezer bag for several months.

This Golden Vegan Corn Bread Recipe takes advantage of nutritional yeast flakes and a touch of maple syrup which gives it a rich, buttery flavor while corn kernels enhance its hearty texture. It's a Northern style corn bread so it features a mixture of corn flour and all-purpose flour. It's baked in a square baking pan instead of a cast iron skillet and designed to be a little sweeter and more moist than its Southern counterpart.

This Vegan Buttermilk Biscuit recipe makes great vegan dinner rolls that pair well with American feast-style dinners on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. They feature just the right amount of tahini and lemon juice to accurately impart buttermilk flavors.These biscuits are also great served as a snack with a smear of margarine or almond butter. Serve them warm.

Latest Comments

"I've made this a few times and have used pea milk instead (the guy who brought us Method cleaning products is now doing vegan mylk). I am trying to avoid soya, and found that using only coconut vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar really gives a mild taste (my stepdaughter, who is almost 9, found the apple cider vinegar version too vinegary). I too am trying to cut the salt, as I used to buy unsalted butter before, but overall, a fantastic butter/margarine alternative. Thanks for this! :)"

"Unfortunately sauteing with your butter recipe ends up in unwanted clumps due to xantham gum being fried at high temperatures. Perhaps you could use something that melts. You are right about the acidic taste. The vinegar flavor ruins the butter experience if you were to spread it on bread to be eaten directly. Lemon juice has the same effect. Moreover, I did try organic coconut oil which resulted in the best flavor. But, as I am sure everyone knows, organic oil is extremely expensive. It is also interesting to note that this butter for some reason will collect mold rather quickly if not used soon enough. Freezing only retards the mold growth. How long do you hold your butter before using? Have you tried other neutral tasting acids with..."

Latest Comments

"I've made this a few times and have used pea milk instead (the guy who brought us Method cleaning products is now doing vegan mylk). I am trying to avoid soya, and found that using only coconut vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar really gives a mild taste (my stepdaughter, who is almost 9, found the apple cider vinegar version too vinegary). I too am trying to cut the salt, as I used to buy unsalted butter before, but overall, a fantastic butter/margarine alternative. Thanks for this! :)"

"Unfortunately sauteing with your butter recipe ends up in unwanted clumps due to xantham gum being fried at high temperatures. Perhaps you could use something that melts. You are right about the acidic taste. The vinegar flavor ruins the butter experience if you were to spread it on bread to be eaten directly. Lemon juice has the same effect. Moreover, I did try organic coconut oil which resulted in the best flavor. But, as I am sure everyone knows, organic oil is extremely expensive. It is also interesting to note that this butter for some reason will collect mold rather quickly if not used soon enough. Freezing only retards the mold growth. How long do you hold your butter before using? Have you tried other neutral tasting acids with..."